The road to Jakarta Asian games 2018: Indian shuttlers to vie for glory from 19 August

Once the most underrated, there is no doubt now that Indian badminton is a force to reckon with. Ever since Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarterfinals of Beijing Olympics, followed by an impressive gold medal from the BWF World Junior Championships in 2008, the Indian badminton has produced several stars who have time and again kept the flag fluttering high, be it Kidambi Srikanth, or PV Sindhu, or even people like Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa, as the list goes on.

Following an extremely successful Commonwealth Games, coupled up by an improved show at the BWF Asian Championships, the Indian shuttlers shall now aim to break their Asiad jinx with a spirited performance at the upcoming Jakarta Asian Games, where the badminton shall go on the floors from 19th August, at Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace: Venue for badminton at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018

The men's team and the women's team shall compete with the Asian superpowers for the top honours from 19 to 22 August. It was after a whopping 28 years that the women's team had ended the medal drought for Indian badminton with a gallant bronze medal at Incheon Asiad 2014, and they would like nothing better than to emulate that performance or go even a notch better.

Following the team tournament, the events for singles and doubles category shall open from 23rd August onwards, where the likes of PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth etc. shall stake their claim towards ending the medal drought in the individual category.

Asian Games 2018: Can India's individual stars end the medal drought in badminton?

It's been 36 years since India last won a medal in the individual category, when Syed Modi, the then Commonwealth champion, clinched a bronze medal in the men's singles category, a feat still unmatched by any other Indian.

Following the preliminaries, the quarterfinals shall officially begin from 25 August, with the women's doubles leading the way. The semifinals shall officially start from 26 August, following which the medal playoffs shall be conducted on 27th and 28th August.

Though it's too early to determine, we can be optimistic about our medal tally, given the improvement Indian badminton is making by leaps and bounds. We won't be surprised if India wins more than just a solitary bronze from this Asiad in badminton. Following is the official schedule for the badminton at the Jakarta Asian Games:-

1. 19 August:- Preliminaries [Men's Team and Women's Team]
2. 20 August:- Quarterfinals [Men's Team and Women's Team]
3. 21 August:- Semifinals[Men's Team and Women's Team]
4. 22 August:- Medal Playoffs [Men's Team and Women's Team]
5. 23 August:- Preliminaries [Singles and Doubles]
6. 24 August:- Pre Quarter Finals [Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles]
7. 25 August - Pre Quarter Finals and Quarter Finals [Men's Singles and Doubles and Women's Doubles]
8. 26 August - Quarter Finals and Semifinals [Men's Doubles, Women's Singles and Doubles, Mixed Doubles]
9. 27 August:- Quarter Finals, Semifinals & Medal Playoffs [Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Singles and Doubles, Mixed Doubles]
10. 28 August - Medal Playoffs [All categories]

Following is the Indian squad for badminton at the Jakarta Asian Games:-

Singles:- Kidambi Srikanth, Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu and Saina Nehwal

Doubles & Mixed Doubles:- Pranav Jerry Chopra, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, Chirag C. Shetty, Buss Sumeeth Reddy, Manu Attri, Ashwini Ponappa, Nelakurihi Sikki Reddy, Rutaparna Panda, Arathi Sara Sunil

Men's Team [excluding the ones mentioned]:- B. Sai Praneeth. Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma

Women's Team [excluding the ones mentioned]:- Sai Uttejitha Rao, Gayathri Gopichand, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashmita Chaliha